Witch King

by Martha Wells

Overview

Nominated for the 2023 Nebula Award for Best Novel

From the breakout SFF superstar author of Murderbot comes a remarkable story of power and friendship, of trust and betrayal, and of the families we choose.

"I didn't know you were a... demon."
"You idiot. I'm the demon."
Kai's having a long day in Martha Wells' WITCH KING....

After being murdered, his consciousness dormant and unaware of the passing of time while confined in an elaborate water trap, Kai wakes to find a lesser mage attempting to harness Kai’s magic to his own advantage. That was never going to go well.

But why was Kai imprisoned in the first place? What has changed in the world since his assassination? And why does the Rising World Coalition appear to be growing in influence?

Kai will need to pull his allies close and draw on all his pain magic if he is to answer even the least of these questions.

He’s not going to like the answers.

WITCH KING is Martha Wells’s first new fantasy in over a decade, drawing together her signature ability to create characters we adore and identify with, alongside breathtaking action and adventure, and the wit and charm we’ve come to expect from one of the leading writers of her generation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250826794
Publisher:	Tor Publishing Group
Publication date:	05/30/2023
Series:	The Rising World , #1
Pages:	432
Sales rank:	30,420
Product dimensions:	8.00(w) x 5.50(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Martha Wells has written many fantasy novels, including Witch King, The Wizard Hunters, Wheel of the Infinite, the Books of the Raksura series (beginning with The Cloud Roads and ending with The Harbors of the Sun), and the Nebula-nominated The Death of the Necromancer, as well as YA fantasy novels, short stories, and nonfiction. Her New York Times and USA Today-bestselling Murderbot Diaries series has won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Alex Awards.

Editorial Reviews

03/06/2023

Hugo, Nebula, and Locus award winner Wells takes a break from her sci-fi Murderbot series to delve into a complex secondary world fantasy exploring the past and present of Kaiisteron the Witch King, a demon in human form. The past story line follows Kai’s first possession of a human body and his relationship with Prince Bashasa, who orchestrates a coup against the autocratic Hierarchs to avenge his sister’s death. The present begins with Kai abruptly waking to find his consciousness separated from his body—which is now a corpse entombed in a watery prison—and setting out to investigate his own murder. Among those helping him are Ziede Daiyahah, a witch searching for her missing wife; Sanja, a street urchin; and Ramad, a vanguarder and historian. The enormous cast is difficult to keep track of and the dry, workmanlike prose that works so well when Wells is writing robots can make it difficult to feel particularly close to any of these living characters. Laudably, however, Wells treats sexuality and gender (demons can move between male and female bodies) with a refreshing matter-of-factness and depicts the cultures of this world with an anthropologist’s care. Fans will not be disappointed by Wells’s return to fantasy. (May)

Publishers Weekly

02/01/2023

Demon Prince Kai awakens in his own tomb, alone and unable to remember how he got there, although he knows he must have been betrayed. He'll have to recover his companions, retrace his steps, both in the past and in the present, and consume the life energy of anyone who gets in his way. After all, Kai is the Witch King, and he can't let anyone stand in the way of protecting his loved ones. Kai and his dearest companions saved their world from an all-consuming conqueror. His betrayal is an attempt to undo that work, and Kai must figure out whom he needs to kill this time around. The world is wide-open, its peoples are not the usual fantasy suspects, and the power of both friendship and heartbreak pushes the story on at a breathless pace. VERDICT After the rousing success of "The Murderbot Diaries," Wells has returned to her fantasy roots in a tale of revolt, rebellion, and betrayal. Readers looking for more Murderbot may be disappointed, but fantasy readers looking for new worlds and characters to explore will be enthralled.—Marlene Harris

Library Journal

A USA Today Bestseller!
A Sunday Times Bestseller!
A New York Times Best Fantasy of 2023!
An NPR Best Book of 2023!
An AppleBooks Best of the Year!
A 2023 American Booksellers Pick!
A LibraryReads Pick!


“Wells is working at the height of her powers here, and it’s relaxing to be carried along for a ride in the company of such a phenomenal storyteller.” —The New York Times

“A wonderfully original world, sympathetic characters and a solid quest make Witch King the satisfying fantasy you yearn for when named swords and cursed rings begin to grow stale.” —The Wall Street Journal

“A wildly original and complex fantasy exploring how revolutions are won through trust, and destroyed through selfishness. Wells excels at brooding, powerful inhuman protagonists who just need a little kindness to be their badass best.” —N. K. Jemisin

“...The kind of novel you want to sink into, with a narrative style that hooks you in and makes it impossible to put down.” —Alex Brown for NPR

“Unlike anything I've ever read. A layered and complex novel that delivers on the promise of epic fantasy.” —Zoraida Córdova

“Fantasy readers looking for new worlds and characters to explore will be enthralled.” —Library Journal

From the Publisher

Narrator Eric Mok makes this wonderfully inventive and diverse fantasy eminently accessible. Kaiisteron, a demon prince of the underearth with the power to possess other bodies, wakes up imprisoned and confused. Kai and his dear friend, the witch Ziede, escape and, along with a growing motley crew, set off to find Ziede's missing wife. The story jumps between the present time and years earlier, during a terrible war with the invading Hierarchs. We slowly learn more about Kai's history and how the close bonds between his found family came to be. Mok's Kai is appealing and relatable--he sounds simultaneously young and resigned, weary of death and pain and betrayal and yet still hopeful for something better. Listeners will hope we get more of this fascinating world. J.M.D. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

MAY 2023 - AudioFile

Narrator Eric Mok makes this wonderfully inventive and diverse fantasy eminently accessible. Kaiisteron, a demon prince of the underearth with the power to possess other bodies, wakes up imprisoned and confused. Kai and his dear friend, the witch Ziede, escape and, along with a growing motley crew, set off to find Ziede's missing wife. The story jumps between the present time and years earlier, during a terrible war with the invading Hierarchs. We slowly learn more about Kai's history and how the close bonds between his found family came to be. Mok's Kai is appealing and relatable--he sounds simultaneously young and resigned, weary of death and pain and betrayal and yet still hopeful for something better. Listeners will hope we get more of this fascinating world. J.M.D. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine

MAY 2023 - AudioFile